in a by-election in March 1985, and won with a majority of 1,632. She became vice-chairman of the Finance Committee in 1987, criticising the Government for reducing the rate support grant paid to councils. As a Regional councillor in 1989, McElhone pressed for the development of a sports and community centre on waste ground opposite Ibrox Stadium, persuading the council, Rangers F.C. and the Scottish Development Agency to provide funding. She was mentioned as a possible Labour candidate for the Glasgow Central seat after the death of Robert McTaggart in March 1989, but decided not to run. McElhone was one of five 'experienced members' named by the Scottish Labour Party to sit on a panel vetting applications to be Labour candidates at the 1999 Scottish Parliament elections. Members of the panel had to be people who were not interested in themselves standing. She joined an 'action group' campaigning for the Dixon Community, a voluntary group helping the elderly lead independent lives, which was facing closure because of the costs of repairing its headquarters building. She was also a member of an independent panel appointed by the House of Commons in 2000 to decide on an application by Railtrack to raise the roof of Edinburgh Waverley railway station. See also List of United Kingdom MPs with the shortest service References External links ITN news report on the Queen's Park by-election, featuring Helen McElhone's victory speech 1933 births 2013 deaths Gorbals Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies Scottish Labour MPs Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Glasgow constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies UK MPs 1979–1983 Scottish Labour councillors 20th-century Scottish women politicians 20th-century Scottish politicians Women councillors in Glasgow